Greetings and welcome back. A new year. New opportunities. One important opportunity is
to push the CALS Decision Package 2006 request to the State Legislature, “Arizona Cooperative Extension and
Agriculture Research Centers: Investing in Rural Arizona” which is available at
http://cals.arizona.edu/extension/download/DecisionPackage2005.pdf(enter the username of “cals” and the password of “ua” to access this document).
Talk to your elected officials as a citizen. This is crucial funding for the future of Cooperative Extension.
We need to do this now as the Legislature begins next week.
Faculty APRs (submitted through the APROL system) are due January 20, 2006. Remember, you need unit head approval,
so submit them early enough to give your county director, department head, or school director time to read and
approve them. The APROL sign-in site is at http://cals.arizona.edu/aprol, the Extension evaluation form is available
at http://ag.arizona.edu/extension/profdev/appointedpersonnelevalform.pdf, and the Dean’s 11/28 memo can be found
at http://cals.arizona.edu/extension/download/DeansMemo11-28-05.pdf. If you have
any questions on the process, contact Patti B. (520-621-5308).
Park Romney officially retired December 2, 2005. We wish him well.
Update from e-Extension, now known as eXtension: The eight Communities of Practice have been organizing, receiving
training on working as virtual teams and collaborative technologies and developing content. The pioneering Communities
of Practice are: HorseQuest, Fire Ants, Rural Entrepreneurship, Disaster Education, Horticulture, Wildlife Damage,
Parenting and Financial Security. If you have an interest in joining one of these Communities of Practice or in
monitoring the progress of these groups go to http://CoP.extension.org.
An innovative administrator/scientist is sought to promote and facilitate multidisciplinary activities as Director
of the School of Natural Resources. The School actively seeks to enhance the diversity of students, faculty, and
staff as it integrates science and management across four key program areas: landscape studies, rangeland and forest
ecology, watershed management, and wildlife and fisheries science. Opportunities to forge new directions and
partnerships while building on traditional strengths will occur with upcoming retirements and recent faculty hires.
These opportunities are concomitant with an emerging University-level focus on earth and environmental science,
state-level commitments to a variety of environmental initiatives, and regional federal agency initiatives. Duties,
responsibilities, qualifications and application procedures can be found at http://www.uacareertrack.com (position #34075).
The position is open until filled, but to ensure consideration, applications should be received by February 24, 2006.
The college is on pace to see about 1,000 grant proposals this year. This is a much appreciated effort but unfortunately,
we are seeing an increase in the number of proposals that come to Colin Kaltenbach’s office on, or very near, their due
date. This puts a great deal of stress on the system. Faculty tend to assume that the proposals can be reviewed immediately
and this is not always the case which leads to frustration for everyone. Colin encourages faculty and business offices to
try and reduce the stress level for everyone by getting their grants completed in sufficient time for normal routing. If
there are special circumstances about a grant proposal, it would be helpful to share that information with CALS Administrative
Services in advance.
Upcoming Events & Reminders:
We want all Arizona children to be "Healthy Active Kids." The Healthy Lifestyles work group is sponsoring a one-day workshop
on Friday, January 13, 2006. It is free for Extension faculty, staff, volunteers and partners who are interested in integrating
healthy lifestyles into their youth and family programming. Speakers include Michelle May, MD.; Joanne Ikeda, University of
California; and Audry Liddell, University of Idaho. Registration is required for one of the 4 sites with the UA videoconferencing
system classrooms - Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff or Sierra Vista. Contact Sharon Hoelscher Day or Joyce Alves for more information or a registration flyer.
The Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (CEAC) is hosting two events in January 2006, both at the Doubletree Hotel at Reid
Park in Tucson -- “Greenhouse Crop Production and Engineering Design Short Course,” January 15-18 that will consist of expert
plant science, engineering and marketing presentations with professionals in both industry and education and visitations to the
state-of-the-art tomato production greenhouses and The University of Arizona’s Controlled Environment Agriculture Center; and
“Growers Marketing Forum: Farm to Fork”, January 18-20, the first Growers Marketing Forum for vegetable and specialty crop
growers that will consist of a state-of-the-art tour of the greenhouse tomato production and packing facility and continue
with topics ranging from branding and packaging to competitive entry into markets ranging from restaurants to wholesale to retail.
For more information, contact Priscilla Files (520-626-9566).
The 18th Annual Southwest Indian Agricultural Association (SWIAA) Annual Conference is being held January 17-19, 2006 in Laughlin,
Nevada. A diverse program is planned that includes topics and speakers from the national, regional and local levels. For more
information, an agenda and a registration form, go to http://cals.arizona.edu/americanindianprograms/swiaa.pdf.
“An Emerging Audience on a Changing Landscape: Arizona’s Open Spaces and the New Exurban Clientele" workshop will be held on Friday,
January 20, 2006, 9:30am-3:00pm at the UA Student Union, Level 3, Catalina Room. Lunch will be provided and travel expenses covered.
Space is limited, so register early by contacting Christie Mills (520-621-8586). The workshop will provide an
opportunity to share the preliminary findings of a small Extension research project focused on our changing rural population, the
growing "exurban" sector. Using what has been learned to date combined with individual experiences, the objective is to develop
ideas for a strategy to extend the reach of natural resource education programs more explicitly into the exurban market.
Join leading scientists and educators to learn more about emerging climate and rangeland ecology research and help create practical
tools for natural resource managers, decision-makers and practitioners at the Climate and Rangelands Workshop: Beyond Boxes and
Arrows - Assessing Climate Change/Variability and Ecosystem Impacts in Southwestern Rangelands, January 25-26, 2006, Apache Gold
Casino, San Carlos (Hwy. 70, five miles east of Globe, San Carlos, AZ 85501). Early registration deadline is January 6
($70 for SRM and SWCS members, $85 for non-members, $40 for students and SRM/SWCS spouses, and $100 for anyone registering
after January 6). The refund policy is according to SRMAZ section policy. The registration and agenda is available online
at: http://azrangelands.org. For more information, contact Chris Jones (928-425-8586).
A reminder that the University of Arizona Water Sustainability Program (WSP) is accepting proposals for the competitive grants
program through the Technology and Research Initiative Fund (TRIF), administered by the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR). The
deadline for proposal submission is January 31, 2006 with awards being announced in early April and funding beginning July 1,
2006. You can view and download the RFP at http://uawater.arizona.edu/grants/rfp.html. For further information contact Jackie Moxley .